5 Former Cowboys nominated for College Football Hall of Fame

Despite Canton, OH being the ultimate individual prize football has to offer in the form of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, there’s still plenty of room for players to find their honor in other hallowed grounds. There are rings of honor, numbers being retired, and then there’s the College Football Hall of Fame.

Five former Dallas Cowboys have been nominated for that exact honor and while none of them have a gold jacket or their name circling AT&T Stadium, they all have special place in the hearts of Cowboys Nation.

Flozell Adams, Michigan State, Offensive Tackle

(AP Photo/Chris O’Meara)

One of the biggest offensive lineman in Cowboys history, Adams spent a dozen years with a star on his helmet. He started 178 games and was a five-time Pro Bowler.

His collegiate resume speaks for itself:

Bradie James, LSU, Linebacker

(Photo by Chris McGrath/Getty Images)

Dallas is hoping to find the same kind of luck with mid-round linebacker draft picks like they found in the 2003 NFL draft with James. He spent nine years in Dallas, though he didn’t take hold of the starting inside linebacker role until his third season. He was never an All-Pro or Pro Bowler but in 2008 he was second on the team in sacks and tackles for loss with eight and 15 respectively.

The snippet provided from his college days:

2002 First Team All-American and NFF National Scholar-Athlete…Three-time All-SEC performer (First Team honors in 2001 and 2002) helped the Tigers to a 2001 conference title…2000 Peach Bowl Defensive MVP ranks second all-time in LSU history with 418 career tackles.

Kellen Moore, Quarterback, Boise State

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Moore still has obvious ties to the Cowboys, as he’s currently charged with running the highest-rated offense in the NFL. His time in Dallas as a player was brief and his broken leg in training camp during the 2016 season helped paved the way for Dak Prescott to find his way onto the field.

2010 First Team All-American finished career as the winningest starting QB (.943) in college football history…Set the NCAA record for lowest career INT percentage (.017) and tied NCAA record with four 3,000-yard passing seasons…Boise State’s all-time leading passer (14,667) earned three conference Player of the Year honors (2-WAC, 1-MWC).

Ken Norton Jr., Linebacker, UCLA

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The son of a former boxing heavyweight champ brought a similar mindset to a Dallas defense that ran roughshod over the NFL in the early 90s. The No. 41 pick in the 1988 draft spent his first 6 years with the Dallas Cowboys, making the Pro Bowl once and winning back to back Super Bowls before heading wets to finish his career with the San Francisco 49ers. He made a lot of tackles for the Cowboys, but none more memorable than the goal line stand against Kenneth Davis and the Buffalo Bills in Pasadena.

1987 First Team All-American, leading Bruins to four consecutive bowl wins… Member of the 1985 conference championship team… Led team in tackles in 1986 (106) and in 1987 (125) and ranks sixth in school history with 339 career tackles.

Kevin Smith, Cornerback, Texas A&M

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The No. 17 overall pick of the 1992 draft burned bright and burned hot. In just his second year in the league he intercepted six passes. An injury cut short his 1995 campaign, and though he came back to pick off another five passes the following season, he was never quite the same, and his career ended after just eight years in the NFL.

1991 consensus First Team All-American and leader of Aggie unit that led the nation in total defense (222.4 ypg)…Three-time First Team All-SWC performer helped Aggies to the 1991 conference title…A&M’s all-time career leader in INTs (20), INT return yards (289) and INTs returned for a touchdown (3).

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